F1: Winners and losers from the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix
Max Verstappen won the Qatar Grand Prix, capitalising on a poor McLaren strategy that denied Lando Norris the chance to seal the 2025 Drivers’ Championship.
Sports News Blitz writer Eloise Stevens breaks down the winners and losers of the race at the Losail circuit as the Drivers’ Championship goes all the way to the last race of the season.
Winner: Max Verstappen
No one may have been more surprised than Max Verstappen when he won the Qatar GP as McLaren were looking certain to finish ahead.
A fumbled strategy from the Constructors’ Championship winners saw Verstappen cruise to victory after Oscar Piastri failed to catch him in the dying stages of the race.
The win puts Verstappen into second position in the standings and only 12 points behind Norris.
It means he has to finish on the podium, and hope his main rival does not, to secure a record fifth world championship.
Loser: McLaren
Max Verstappen said at the beginning of the weekend that if he has any chance of winning a fifth championship, it would be because of “other people’s failures” which after another poor strategic performance from McLaren certainly rings true.
McLaren looked set for a comfortable 1-2 finish, with Verstappen qualifying only third and overtaking opportunities limited around the circuit.
But everything changed on lap seven when Nico Hülkenberg collided with Pierre Gasly, prompting a safety car at the perfect moment for most teams to carry out a two-stop strategy and stay within Pirelli’s 25-lap tyre limit.
Everyone pitted,except McLaren, who opted for flexibility over track position.
The decision left Oscar Piastri chasing Verstappen in vain for the win and forced Lando Norris to settle for fourth after failing to keep ahead of the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
Norris must now finish on the podium in Abu Dhabi, while Piastri needs to place at least second, for either of them to claim a maiden F1 Drivers’ Championship.
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Winner: Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz’s second podium for Williams has all but secured fifth place for the team in the Constructor’s standings.
At the beginning of the season it looked as though Sainz was going to struggle alongside team-mate Alex Albon who undoubtedly had more experience with the Williams FW47.
However, since the summer break, he has managed to almost quadruple his points tally and now has Albon in his sights for eighth place in the Drivers’ championship.
Loser: Ferrari
Ferrari were fortunate to salvage any points in Qatar, with Lewis Hamilton’s back-to-back Q1 exits leaving him only 12th, and Charles Leclerc managing just four points for the team over the entire race weekend.
These recent poor performances have left the Scuderia with no chance of finishing higher than fourth in the Constructors’ standings - a sharp fall from grace after nearly winning the title last season.
With much of the team’s focus already on next year’s car, they can only hope it will be enough to return them to their former glory.
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Winner: Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso delivered strong results all weekend, qualifying fourth for the Sprint race and finishing seventh in both races.
In a weekend where his team-mate, Lance Stroll, once again failed to score points, the Spaniard's consistent performances will no doubt be greatly appreciated by Aston Martin.
With the announcement of Adrian Newey taking over as Team Principal next year, it will be exciting to see what the F1 veteran can continue to deliver.
Loser: Oliver Bearman
After running in the points positions before the second round of pit stops, Ollie Bearman will have left the Losail circuit feeling slightly hard done by.
A botched pit stop on lap 32 dropped the Briton to the back of the pack, eliminating any chance of securing a sixth consecutive points finish.
The poor stop, carried out by the Haas team, saw Bearman appear to run over a wheel gun, losing him valuable seconds.
His predicament was then worsened when he received a 10-second stop-and-go penalty from the FIA for his car being in an unsafe condition.
A pointless race weekend could not have come at a worse time for Haas, who now drop to P8 in the Constructors’ standings, behind Aston Martin, heading into the final race in Abu Dhabi.
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